A Little Story for Christmas

One young participant living with severe allergies joined the programme hesitant of contact with others. Over the course of six workshops artist Siobhán Clancy developed creative activities that focused on physical contact in a safe environment – “the art of touch”.

One of the earliest activities involved creating paper hands on sticks, which participants used as prosthetics to greet each other, allowing them to build connections while maintaining a safe space. The turning point came in a later session, when everyone played ‘the greeting game’. In the game, one person volunteered to be the greeter, and everyone else could choose which greeting they wanted to perform. They chose waves, fist bumps, high fives, hand shakes, hugs or any other greeting they liked. At first, the young boy did not want to participate, still hesitant to make physical contact with his peers. But he watched on and eventually he joined in, choosing carefully how he would like to be greeted. By the end, something amazing happened: he volunteered to be the greeter! He enthusiastically doled out high fives, fist bumps, and hugs with his fellow participants, fully embracing the bonds he was creating through the sense of touch.